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our 1 year anniversary...tara & danna, part 1

this is a story about grace, and about healing and about just believing way down deep in your gut…

or, did this all actually start because I was hungry???

Seriously, I suppose that I am not exactly sure when all of this goodness really started, but I do know that it originally began with PIE.

I mean…who doesn’t like pie? Yep, it was my absolute love of a truly good tasting pie that led me to follow “The Pie Queen” on Instagram a few years ago, and it was my love of the fabulously delectable pie specifically sold at The Pie Haven that kept me there. This particular situation is living proof that God always has a bigger plan than we may realize at times, and one way or another, if we just SHOW UP, He just works things out…because He always knows exactly what we need, and exactly when we need it. This is a story about Divine Intervention.

Two years ago last November, I could not even walk up a flight of stairs in my own home. It took the leading neurosurgeon in Houston exactly 4 back surgeries within a six month period to finally fix me. Over the next year, as I was beginning to slowly heal, the doctor had suggested that I stay away from sugar… it is not good for my autoimmune issues or the degenerative arthritis symptoms I will continue to deal with for the remainder of my life. I immediately went through my Instagram feed, and got rid of all posts having anything to do with baking and sugar, except one…

Tara Royer Steele.

I had noticed that Tara’s Instagram postings were taking on a slightly different direction, so it was not a big deal for me to keep on reading about pie…

and then truth…

and then some darn good pie…

and then dumb lies…

and then, of course, another beautiful pie…

and then all about doing something just for yourself that was really important and so so brave. Tara talked about going to a camp where you could work with others to let go of all of those old lies . You know, the lies that have been living inside of our heads for years and years and years. The ugly lies that are basically taking up so much space in our brains that there isn’t any room left for more beautiful stuff…like the truth. The really good stuff that God originally gave to us when we were born, because we honestly are each beautifully and wonderfully made.

Hmmmmm…my curiosity was totally peaked and I wanted to know more about what this pie maven was talking about.

The next thing I knew, I was vectored in on The Brave Gathering site reading all about Soul Restoration, and making art, and the possibility of healing from the inside out…

and did I mention that there was a slight chance we may even get some pie? One piece of pie is fine! The camp would be held at The Wander Inn, a place run by the super cool Junk Gypsy’s, which was a smidge over an hour away from Houston. This location was awesome because I could easily justify travel costs to Big Daddy. Besides, my sweet hubs is always the first person in my life to remind me that I am totally worth taking care of myself. I am the one who struggles the most with doing something for me.

I eagerly sent Tara an email asking if “regular” people could come…I am not sure what I meant by that…because I am certainly irregular, but that is what I asked her, and she answered right back telling me she still had room. She also told me all about the fabulous Melody Ross curriculum and how it had impacted her life for the better. It sounded perfect and I was going to sign up right away. However, my darling daughter had her third beautiful baby girl, and I honestly did not think twice about camp again for at least another week. All was good in my world, and Nanna Danna was happy staying at my daughter’s house with all of my precious grand babies …snuggles are the best!

Late one night, I was saying my prayers, and that “mystery happy lady truth camp” popped right back into my head…along with that giant feeling that I really needed to go, or I would be soooooo sad.

I swear, it was a “Kevin Costner” kind of voice hearing thing from his movie, Field of Dreams… “if you build it, they will come”, but more like…

if you go to camp, you will get to eat pie!!!

I really did try to sign up again the next day, but my granddaughters were not cooperating at all, and by night time, I could not hold my eyes open long enough to sign on to the computer. Babies make you so tired, and every time I laid down, I fell asleep, but I could not stop thinking about camp.

Honestly, It was the most interesting thing the way this silly camp, that I knew nothing about, called out to me and my heart, and I had zero idea why! I just knew that I had to go to camp, and I knew that for some reason… God wanted me to go. I also knew that I needed to get in touch this girl, who I had never ever met in person, and give her some money ASAP to hold my place. I tried to log on again, and again, but the little girls always needed my attention…everyone always needed or wanted Nanna! How in the world could I possibly get this “Tara girl” real dollar bills to hold my spot? I picked up my phone to call her again…the girls were chasing me around wanting my cell phone, and I had no choice but to leave her a really intelligent extremely professional message…giving her all my information, along with my credit card number. I told her “Just sign me up! I have cash money to give you!”. She called me back laughing, but it was done! This girl was going to camp!

Three days later, Hurricane Harvey came viciously barreling into town, and took away so many many things representing the last 23 years of my life, my marriage, of my children’s lives, and of my family’s lives. If I had not already signed up for Soul Restoration before the storm hit, there is absolutely no way that I would have done it. I was truly in shock and totally devastated over the destruction that nasty horrible flood water had caused to my world.

Thank you Heavenly Father for knowing me and knowing what I needed, and knowing how desperately I needed it. Thank you Jesus for placing Tara, and Soul Restoration, and Brave Girls, and Melody, and all of my new beautiful sisters into my life exactly when you did. Thank you God for loving me the way that you do. I put all of my trust and faith into your big glorious hands, and YOU held on tight to me and gave me the courage I needed to TRUST THE PROCESS.